Your SUSECON 26 Sovereignty Guide: The Sessions That Will Change How You Think About Control

As we prepare to gather in Prague this April for SUSECON 26, I am frequently asked a specific question: “Is Digital Sovereignty just a European regulation story?”

My answer is always a categorical no.

As Global Sovereignty Ambassador, I talk to organizations in Singapore, Sao Paulo, and Seattle every week. The pattern is the same everywhere: sovereignty is no longer an IT compliance checkbox. It sits in the boardroom now, and has moved from the back office of IT compliance directly into the global boardroom. It is no longer just about where your data lives; it is about operational resilience and the ability to dictate your own digital destiny in an unpredictable world.. CIOs and CTOs are asking real questions about supply chain risk, vendor dependency, and what happens to their operations when geopolitics shifts.

At SUSECON 26, we are treating sovereignty as the strategic “North Star” for the modern enterprise. In fact, if you search the session catalog for “sovereign,” you’ll find no fewer than 18 dedicated talks and workshops. If you’re deep down into this topic you could almost entirely join only sovereignty sessions but of course there is a lot more to learn.

There are far too many brilliant sessions to cover in a single post, so I’ve hand-picked a few essential highlights that represent the path we’ve charted for you.

1. The SUSE Sovereign Summit: The executive exchange

This is new for SUSECON, and I am genuinely excited about it. We are bringing together senior leaders from public and private sectors for an invitation-only half day. The agenda goes beyond technology: geopolitical risk, AI control, and what it actually takes to regain ownership of your technology estate. If you want real, unfiltered conversations with peers who are dealing with the same sovereignty challenges, this is the room to be in. 

Interested? Send me a message and I will get you on the list.. Today, dependency on a single proprietary stack is a business risk that boardrooms globally can no longer ignore. This session explores how sovereignty allows organizations to mitigate supply chain vulnerabilities and ensure business continuity regardless of shifting international relations.

2. Standards as the antidote to lock-in

If you run workloads across multiple clouds (or plan to), this session is for you. We go deep into how open standards make workload portability real, not just theoretical. You will see concrete examples of organizations that moved workloads between providers without rebuilding their entire stack. The practical takeaway: what standards to adopt now so you do not get locked into decisions that are expensive to reverse later.

3. A deep dive: mastering the EU Cloud Sovereignty Framework

I am particularly honored to be leading the session “EU Cloud Sovereignty Framework Explained.” While our scope is global, we recognize that Europe is often the architect of the world’s most rigorous standards. In this talk, I’ll share our findings on translating complex regulations like NIS2 and the Cyber Resilience Act into a practical technical roadmap.

I’ll also be demonstrating how you can test your own sovereignty level using our latest assessment framework, giving you immediate, actionable data on where your organization stands today. My goal isn’t just to talk about compliance, but to offer a blueprint for Global Excellence that can be applied in any market on Earth.

4. Securing the foundation: lifecycle sovereignty

Finally, we get practical with “Lifecycle Sovereignty: Regaining Control of Linux.” You cannot have a sovereign cloud if you do not have a sovereign OS. We’ll show you how to manage the fundamental layers of your stack includingLinux upgrades, security patches, and risk frameworks without being beholden to a single distribution’s rigid roadmap.

The energy of the community: SUSECON Ketchups

Between sessions, come find me on the exhibition floor. I will be hosting live ‘SUSECON Ketchup’ interviews with the innovators and leaders shaping our industry. These are fast, informal, high-energy conversations. 

And because community is about more than code, we are adding a twist this year: we will find out what music powers the people building sovereign infrastructure. If you want to feel the pulse of where this industry is heading (and maybe discover a new playlist), stop by.

The invitation

With 18 different sessions exploring every angle from AI to air-gapped infrastructure, SUSECON 26 is the definitive gathering for those serious about digital independence. Sovereignty is the “Quiet Revolution” of our time. It’s about ensuring that as we move faster into the age of AI and Cloud Native, we don’t lose the keys to our own kingdom.

I look forward to seeing you in Prague. Let’s shape a resilient, sovereign future together. Send me a DM for my discount code: https://www.linkedin.com/in/opensourceexpert/

Register for SUSECON 26